The drunken lout who left a schoolgirl scarred for life after lobbing a bottle through a car window has been put behind bars.
Little Abbie Keers, nine, has told family she feels ugly after the horrifying incident in which Matthew McCrea smashed a bottle of Budweiser through the front window of a fiat Punto driven be her grandmother.
McCrea, who admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, has now been jailed for eight months, the Newcastle Chronicle reports.
The 24-year-old had drunk 15 bottles of lager by 10.30pm on Valentines Day of this year, when he threw the glass bottle on to a dual-carriageway in Stanley as Abbie was being driven by grandmother Sandra Webb Durham Crown Court heard.
The front passenger window shattered and Abbie was showered in glass. Her horrified grandmother turned to see Abbie’s face covered in blood.
The youngster underwent plastic surgery and needed stitches to her nose and both eyelids. She has been told by doctors the scars will be permanent.
Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, read aloud a heartrending victim impact statement by Sandra, which told how Abbie is in pain daily.
“Abbie asked me if she is ugly because of the scar because she looked in the mirror and she said she doesn’t look the same, she looks different,” the ex-police officer’s statement said.
“When I heard what she said it was as painful as the night it happened, seeing her face covered in blood, shards of glass in her face, and being unable to do anything to help her.”
Sandra was taking her daughter Clare and Abbie’s younger sister Lexi, three, to a clinic as the younger girl was unwell.
McCrea, of Tyne Vale, Stanley, was close to a pedestrian underpass by the A693 when he threw the bottle, hitting the Fiat Punto. At a previous hearing he admitted the charge on the basis he inadvertently hit the moving vehicle.
The prosecution said it did not accept that basis of plea but was not in a position to disprove it.
Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said there were too many variables to scientifically analyse exactly what had happened. He told the court McCrea was barred from local premises for five years in 2013 under Derwentside’s Pubwatch scheme.
Liam O’Brien, defending, said McCrea was ashamed of his actions, which were not premeditated.
“He and his family are shocked and appalled he could be responsible for the terrible injuries that were caused to this poor young girl,” Mr O’Brien said. “He has learned a terrible lesson, but he has learned it well.”
Speaking after the hearing, Sandra said: “Abbie is a lot quieter and sometimes it worries you. We try to talk to her about this so she can talk about it to us.
“When we ask her how she feels, she just gets upset and angry and that is not Abbie at all. She is a placid little girl.
“Her character has changed a little bit. We are pleased that he has been given a custodial sentence.
Sergeant Michael McGowan said the sentence might offer the family closure.
He said: “His mindless act has caused unnecessary distress and significant suffering to a nine-year-old girl and her family.
“I sincerely hope that the sentence given will provide them with some comfort and with the platform they need to begin to move forward with their lives.”
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